


A Cup of Coffee (Full Moon Ficlet #379 - Enhance)

by JoMouse



Series: Sterek Bingo 2020 [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: AI Derek Hale, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Artificial Intelligence, Alternate Universe - Human, Artificial Intelligence, Don't copy to another site, M/M, Scientist Stiles Stilinski, Sterek Bingo, Sterek Bingo 2020, sbai
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-05-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:47:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24082324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoMouse/pseuds/JoMouse
Summary: Stiles created the DRK unit that was bought by Peter Hale. During checkups, he came to care about him greatly. Peter brings him back one day for an enhancement Stiles doesn't agree with.
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Series: Sterek Bingo 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1737445
Comments: 18
Kudos: 144
Collections: Full Moon Ficlet Prompt #379: Enhance





	A Cup of Coffee (Full Moon Ficlet #379 - Enhance)

**Author's Note:**

> Greetings and Salutations!
> 
> Okay, so this is a bit of a mix and mess but it made me smile. It's written or FullMoonFiclet and also for Sterek Bingo. 
> 
> I've never written AI before and it's not something I usually go for, but when I saw the prompt this week for FMF, it went along with the theme for Sterek Bingo, so I created this.
> 
> Big thanks to [Marie](HTTP://quietzap.tumblr.com) for being and amazing beta and for encouraging me when I want to give up. Without you, so much of what I've written in the past year's time would not have happened. *bows head respectfully*
> 
> I hope you enjoy the story!
> 
> xx-Joey

Stiles kicked at the door as he grabbed the clipboard hanging just outside. He frowned when he entered and studied the unit sitting on the table in the middle of the room. He loved his job but there were times when he wished that he could walk away from it, preferably with a certain someone. Unfortunately, there were rules and he signed a million contracts promising to follow them or he’d lose his job and pay some hefty fines.

“Good morning, Derek,” he greeted the unit, trying to prepare himself for the smile and losing his breath anyway.

“You’re still the only one who calls me that,” he responded.

DRK Unit or Designated Research and Knitting Unit was one of the first AI’s that Stiles had helped create. He’d been teased about the odd attributes he’d assigned the unit, but once they saw that they were just the tip of the iceberg with him, the laughter stopped. It had only been when the unit started showing self-awareness that Stiles had started calling him Derek.

“How are things going with Peter?” Derek was owned by Peter Hale, one of the richest men in the area, and one of the most eccentric. He was also a famous author and Derek’s research capabilities were a good fit for him and he made some extra money selling his knitted goods on Etsy. Stiles had a few of the scarves himself.

Derek shrugged. “They’re alright.”

Stiles narrowed his eyes and looked over the chart again. “What brings you in today?” Normally, a unit’s owner would accompany them to maintenance visits but a long time ago Derek had shown a knack for attending by himself and Peter had jumped at the chance to stay back at his mansion.

“Uncle Peter wants a couple of the new enhancements that he’s read about in the company reports,” Derek said, his voice the most monotone Stiles had heard it in years.

Stiles grimaced. He was glad that Derek was still passing as Peter’s nephew but his mention of the enhancements made him frown. A few of the new designers had made a program that turned the AI’s into companions of a sexual nature and it bothered Stiles. In fact, he’d spent many hours arguing about the enhancements and refusing to perform them; his bosses had told him that he was free to use the door and end his employment with the clinic free and clear if he didn’t want to do the job assigned.

He still hadn’t agreed and if he refused to enhance Derek, he would definitely lose his job. His lips curled into a smile as he looked at Derek. If he was fired, he wouldn’t be breaking his contract and wouldn’t have to pay any fines. His mind started reeling as he tried to figure out what he should do.

“Stiles?” Derek interrupted, laying a hand on Stiles’ hand, a spark running up his arm. Derek picked his hand up and turned it over slowly, staring at it in wonder. “What are the enhancements?”

“Peter didn’t tell you?” he asked. Normally Peter treated Derek a bit better than that, keeping him informed and treating him as close to a human as he can without forgetting he was a machine. 

A knock on the door preceded Peter’s entrance into the room. “Sorry for my tardiness. I didn’t want to come,” he said as he shut the door behind him. “Good afternoon, Mr. Stilinski. Are you done with Derek?”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Hale. I cannot do the enhancements you are interested in.” Stiles crossed his arms over his chest.

“And why not?” Peter mirrored his position, his lips quirking at the corners.

“I do not approve of them. You know that I do not think of the units simply as machines,” Stiles explained.

“At least you do not think of  _ Derek _ as a machine,” Peter corrected. “I’ve never seen you treat another unit like you do Derek.” 

Stiles could feel his face heating up. “Derek is special.”

“That he is,” Peter agreed, pointing towards his “nephew” and Stiles followed to discover that there was a hint of pink across his cheekbones. 

Stiles moved closer, lifting a hand hovering over his face, heat radiating from the spot. “How? We never gave you the visual emotion enhancement,” he said, looking between Derek and Peter. “You said it was unnecessary.”

“It is, but somewhere along the way, he seems to have,” Peter shrugged, “ _ grown _ the enhancement. Along with others.” He nodded towards Derek, the pink in his cheeks darkening.

He reached up and took Stiles’ hand and held it against his chest for a minute and Stiles stumbled backwards, reaching for the stethoscope around his neck and putting it in his ears before pressing it to the spot his hand had just vacated. The rhythmic thump of a heartbeat met his ears and he felt himself blinking back tears. Another enhancement that Peter had opted out of when he’d first taken Derek home.

“Are you certain you didn’t install these enhancements by mistake?” Peter asked.

“No. Definitely not,” Stiles responded, shaking his head and handing over Derek’s chart. “Everything is in here. Derek, do you mind if I run diagnostics on you?”

Shaking his head, Derek reached one arm behind him and pulled his shirt over this head, leaving his arms in the sleeves, and turning so his back was on display. Stiles picked up the wires for the diagnostic computer and attached them to the three nodes hidden in the triskele tattoo on his back. 

The computer beeped and Stiles looked at it as it gave a perfect readout and then something started flashing on the screen. “Hmm,” Stiles said, leaning closer and tapping the screen to open up more details.

“What’s happening to me?” Derek asked and he sounded scared. Stiles exchanged a look with Peter.

“Your self-awareness module is...changing,” Stiles said. “Normally, we would call it corrupt but the computer isn’t rejecting the changes, it’s treating them as upgrades but they aren’t any kind of enhancement we do here at the clinic.”

“Could he have been hacked?” Peter asked.

“Possible, but not likely,” Stiles explained. “Most hackers do what they do to try and destroy AI, not make it better.” His head whipped around and he saw Derek sniffle and wipe at his face. “Are you crying?” He reached up to touch his damp cheek.

Derek shrugged, reaching up to pull Stiles’ hand away from his face. “Can you fix me? Reset me to factory settings?”

“Is that what you want?” Stiles wanted him to refuse, wanted him to want to keep on the track he’s on because it was almost as if he was becoming human, becoming something more and something, someone Stiles wouldn’t have to feel guilty about being attracted to.

“It’s what Peter would want,” he responded, lips turned down in the frown that had been his standard expression when he’d first powered up. “He’s my owner.”

Stiles turned to Peter who was watching both of them and Stiles realized Derek was still holding his hand. “My latest book is finished and I’m thinking of taking a bit of a break. Plus I miss doing research, so I don’t really have a need for him right now.”

“You’re selling me? Or destroying me?” Derek asked, his eyes filling with moisture again and Stiles had the crazy urge to stand between him and Peter but settled for squeezing his hand. 

“On the contrary,” Peter said, eying Stiles as he reached into his jacket and pulled out an envelope and held it out. 

Derek nudged Stiles to take it and he did, opening it and pulling out several documents and a small plastic card. Looking it over, he discovered a driver’s license with “Derek Hale” written on it, the unit’s face looking back at him. He handed it to Derek and continued to look through the papers.

“I suspected shortly after he came into my possession that there was something unique about him. Even from the first day, there was a bit of extra spark to him, shall we say. His first morning, he asked if Dr. Stiles was coming to see him.”

“You did?” Stiles asked, grinning and then stopping. “You were wiped when we sent you to Peter.”

“I remembered your eyes,” Derek said. “And your spots.” He poked at one on the back of Stiles’ neck, making him giggle.

“That’s why you came to have him reset that first week,” Stiles said, remembering reading it in the chart. He hadn’t been the one to do the reset because he’d been out ill and the covering scientist hadn’t taken very good notes.

“Derek, do you remember what you said when I brought you in and Mr. McCall came in?”

“I asked where Dr. Stiles was and he told me he was sick,” Derek said, looking at the wall beyond Stiles. 

“And?” Peter prompted.

“I asked if I could get sick.” Peter made a noise. “And I offered to make chicken soup for Dr. Stiles.”

Stiles flipped through the chart, trying to find something about a cooking module but came up with nothing. “I don’t…”

“My sister had brought me chicken soup the night before I brought Derek here because I was feeling under the weather. Derek thought since you were feeling ill as well, you should have some, too.” Stiles gaped. “So, I cancelled the reset and took Derek home again.”

“Why isn’t this in the chart?” Stiles asked, flipping through the pages and growing more frustrated with each go-through.

“I didn’t want it recorded, I wanted to observe Derek for myself to see if he would continue to absorb information and apply it in ways that AI normally does not. He did and he does.” He turned his attention to Derek again. “Nephew, what have you started calling my sister, Talia?”

“Mom,” Derek said. “You tell people I am your nephew, so I would be your sister’s son.” He was getting agitated and Stiles squeezed his hand and looked down at the birth certificate in his hand. 

“My sister is aware of the papers and has accepted her position as Derek’s mother. Her other children are thrilled to have a new brother and Laura has already taken to teasing Derek until his cheeks, and even the tips of his ears, burn.”

“She teases him?” Stiles asked. “About what?” He’d never been able to perfect an embarrassment module and here Derek was having developed it all on his own.

“Well-” Peter started.

“Nonya,” Derek said, smirking when Stiles turned to him with questioning eyes. “Nonya business.”

The three of them burst out laughing and Stiles had to lean on the table, pressing his forehead into Derek’s shoulder to keep from falling over. He startled when he felt a hand run through his hair. He pulled back and looked at Derek, studying his eyes and the way they changed color the longer he looked. He’d always been proud of the way they had turned out, but now there was something there he hadn’t developed: awareness.

“The envelope contains everything Derek needs to start life as a human. There is a birth certificate, social security card, drivers license, school and medical records, as well as bank information. I’ve been saving everything he’s made from selling his wares as well as a weekly allowance,” Peter explained.

Stiles opened up the account book and stared at the balance, showing it to Derek who made a strange noise and looked at his uncle. “I don’t...I can’t…”

“The only thing I couldn’t fit in the envelope was a companion for Derek. Although he enjoys his alone time, he seems to enjoy being around others even more.” Peter smirked. “Particularly a certain designer that he cannot remember is not a doctor, no matter how many times we remind him.”

“Well, I have a PhD, he’s the only one who ever calls me ‘doctor’.” Stiles had corrected him many times, asked him to just call him Stiles and had eventually given up.

“A title creates distance,” Derek said. 

“You want to be distant from me?” Stiles asked, surprised by the statement and a bit hurt; he’d always thought Derek liked him as much as an AI could, but apparently he’d been very wrong.

“I think on that note, I will leave you to creating the DRK unit’s destruction papers,” Peter said. “I have no use for him anymore, but I look forward to visiting my nephew once he’s settled in his new life, preferably far away from here in the home which there is a deed for in that envelope.” 

He held his hand out for Stiles to shake and then the same to Derek who hopped off the table and pulled his uncle into a hug. “Thank you,” he whispered.

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” Peter said, patting Derek on the back and then stepping out of his embrace and exiting the room.

Silence fell over them and Stiles stared at the papers, unsure what he should say or do. “There’s a title to a car in your name, a Camaro.”

“I like Camaro’s,” Derek said and Stiles looked up to see him watching him. “Are we moving?”

“We? You want me to come with you? What happened to distance?” His tone was snide, but he couldn’t help it; his feelings were hurt.

“You were my creator. It was against your company’s protocol for you to have a personal relationship with me and it hurt right here,” Derek tapped his chest, “to be friends with you when you weren’t supposed to be friends with me.”

“It hurt?” Stiles asked, his heart worrying about Derek and his mind insanely curious. He fidgeted with his stethoscope. 

“You can listen,” Derek said, his shirt was still half-pulled off and Stiles pressed the bell of the stethoscope to his chest, hearing the thump again. “I don’t understand human emotions, but when I told Peter he said it was love.” There was a double skip in Derek’s heartbeat and Stiles dropped the stethoscope and stepped back.

“You think you love me?” Stiles asked and Derek nodded, refusing to look him in the eye and Stiles gripped his chin. “Do you want to leave Peter?” Another nod. “Do you want me to come with you?” Derek pressed his lips together and blinked a few times before giving a sharp nod. “Okay, let’s get me fired and you ‘destroyed’.”

It took less time than Stiles had thought to forge the destruction documents and Greenburg, the incineration specialist, was easy enough to convince to sign off on it without any actual destruction occurring. By the time Stiles had sent Derek to wait in his vehicle, hiding in the back of the ancient jeep under a blanket, Stiles’ bosses were waiting for him in his office. They’d received a complaint from Peter Hale about his refusal to do a Sexual Companion Enhancement on his AI leading to him to choose to destroy the unit because he was no longer of value. Due to his insubordination, Stiles was given his walking papers with a generous severance in gratitude for his many years of hard work and dedication to the company to that point. A few of the higher-ups looked genuinely unhappy with their task, but Stiles just smiled and started packing up his office.

Four days later, a Jeep followed a Camaro up a long driveway to a home in the middle of the woods in a town called Beacon Hills, California. The drivers stepped out of their respective vehicles as a moving truck parked near them. “This is it?” Derek asked.

“According to the GPS,” Stiles responded, walking up to the front doors and unlocking them. 

Derek followed him inside and they stood in the middle of what would be the living room, looking over the house with a smile. Stiles leaned into Derek as he wrapped his arms around his waist from behind and rested his chin on Stiles’ shoulder. “We can be together here,” he said. “Really together.” His voice was a gentle purr that sent shivers through Stiles’ body.

“Do you even know what that means?” Stiles asked.

“Peter gave me things to read, Stiles.” A tingle went through him at Derek finally having dropped the ‘Dr’ and he leaned into him a little bit more, placing his hands over Derek’s around his waist.

“Porn. He gave you porn,” Stiles corrected, shaking his head, wondering what kind of ideas Derek had in his mind and what twisted pornography Peter had provided.

“No. He called it ‘fanfic’,” Derek said. “It was confusing. The same two men falling in love over and over in all different worlds. Sometimes they had sexual relations, but mostly they talked and kissed and drank coffee. Although, there were a few of the stories where I don’t think a ‘cup of coffee’ was actually a ‘cup of coffee’ but a euphemism.”

Stiles shook his head, not sure if fanfic was worse than porn in some ways for setting unrealistic expectations for relationships. He turned his head to look at Derek, grinning when he brushed his lips across Stiles’; they’d only shared a few gentle kisses and Stiles refused to pressure Derek. As he watched the tips of Derek’s ears turn pink, he couldn’t help asking, “So, are you feeling up for a cup of coffee?”

Derek’s eyebrows raised in confusion and Stiles shook his head and pulled out of his arms and tugged him down the hall to the kitchen at the same time as a moving guy dropped a box labeled ‘kitchen’ on the floor. Opening the box he pulled out the coffee maker and set it up, yawning as Derek unpacked a couple of mugs and leaned into him as the coffee brewed.

**Author's Note:**

> Come say 'hi' on tumblr. I'm josjournal!


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